Post by Raquel on Feb 7, 2019 22:51:43 GMT 9

I think I found what I was looking for: Way Down Deep in the Blue Sea. You'll see how simple it is. But it needs to be this way, for them to understand anything. I'm adding a link, in case anyone needs something similar in the future.

Post by Marta on Feb 11, 2019 1:27:43 GMT 9

About the Labyrinth game you mentioned some posts ago, we've had the junior version for a long time (actually a very used game since we bought it second hand at a flea market) and the 3 year old can "play" with help (even though he has games for his own age he usually wants to play the ones from his siblings and I just "adapt" the rules or make new ones for him.

Since you are a Spanish speaker there is a blog which is very cool to get recommendations on board games. It is called Bebe a mordor and it has a seccion called "efecto ludico" where you can get recommendations for board games based on subject (like maths, English, and so on). But for me it is like with book recommendations, I end up wanting them all.

Post by Adam Beck on Feb 11, 2019 8:06:43 GMT 9

On the subject of games, I've collected many games over the years and Labyrinth (the board game from Ravensburger) is one of the very best. The rules are simple, but the game play can be quite challenging (yet even pretty young children can take part), and it can be played in any language.

We also have another Labyrinth (by Brio), which is a fantastic solo game for both children and adults. It's very challenging to master--and thus encourages endless amounts of patience and perseverance--and I also like the fact that it's "old-fashioned" and non-digital. In fact, I played this game myself, as a child, and those fond memories are what prompted me to get the game for my own kids (who have enjoyed playing it, too).

For more game ideas (though these posts are now a few years old), please take a look at...

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Raquel on Feb 11, 2019 20:31:44 GMT 9

Thanks, Marta !!! I know of a webpage on board games too: Tang de naranja. The link will take you directly to an entry with board games organized by age. Also, on FB, there's a group called "el pequeño rincón de los juegos de mesa". They are quite active, and I've heard about many board games through them. In fact, this is how I found out about the webpage I posted a link to.

I didn't know there was a Labyrinth Junior version, Marta !! Thanks for letting me know. I may try the regular one, though. I think sometimes games say they are for older children than they really are. I was surprised when my daughter and all her friends played Rush Hours (8+ years) without an issue, once they understood how it worked.

My daughter's teacher insisted, again, on our speaking Spanish with her "for a little while, daily" "in her expert opinion as a teacher". It made me think of you, Amy . It's still not happening, but now I feel better about my parents' wanting to have the kids (and their cousin) for a weekend every month, whenever they can. It's true that she still makes mistakes in the ML; the ones English-speakers usually make (using the wrong article, verb tenses...) But she's improved a great deal in these past 2.5 years. I don't know what we'll need to do next year, but I think she's doing well enough at the moment.

Post by Amy on Feb 11, 2019 20:51:56 GMT 9

Gosh, these kinds of comments make me so cross! Even if it ain't my kid. You are so cool-headed Raquel; such a great quality!

If it can be of any help, here is my latest update on ML schooling:Last school report said my eldest lacks vocabulary. So I have started asking her more about whether she knows what such words mean, I explain it and then translate it into our 3 languages. She also seems interested in me decoding for her, translating.

Last week, I allowed a few ML library books at home and I can already notice the bad influence on our ml@home. My eldest reads them most of the time instead of ml books, she reads them in front or to her little sister who stares in surprise. The little one had started uttering a few ML words to her dad. I had to immediately step in and restrict the reading to homework time with me and outside her little sister's earshot.

The only positive thing out of this is that I think my eldest daughter not reading so well in ML might all have been in her head or down to the books used at school (I find them inadequate). She reads rather well in ML but clearly shows more confidence in reading in ml2 and is developing it in ml1.

Monolingual teachers with no bilingualism experience should mind their own business.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Raquel on Feb 11, 2019 22:32:27 GMT 9

Don't you get angry, Amy . I guess I don't, not because of being cool-headed, but because I know this teacher means well. She's an excellent teacher and her heart is in the right place. She sees that the rest of the children speak Spanish perfectly and when, next year, they need to write sentences, they'll have no problem with it. She thinks my daughter will struggle with it, which is a very real possibility.

We may need to do something about it next year, maybe this summer; we'll see. We may be making a mistake emphasizing English so much. It's something that's always been in my mind. But we're doing what we think is best. The beauty of this is that we can switch strategies at any point.

In the beginning, this teacher just suggested that my daughter read every day, which she already does. I told her so, and mentioned that my husband could read to her every night in Spanish, just like I do in English. She liked the idea, and that's when she suggested taking it one step further: talking in Spanish with her. When I explained I didn't think my daughter would go for it. We have never, ever, spoken Spanish to our children. My daughter's teacher got very serious at this point. She told us it was her expert opinion as a teacher, and that she strongly suggested we did this. I do think my husband's reading to my daughter would help, and we can easily do it. Speaking Spanish to her is not an option at this point.

We've had this issue since our first meeting, so it was hardly a surprise. I really wish she understood and knew more about bilingualism, but she doesn't. She thinks she's right and we think we are.

My daughter's teacher also mentioned that my daughter always brings up how well she speaks English when meeting any new teacher. I thought it could be due to her feeling her Spanish isn't good enough. Yesterday, I asked my daughter how well she spoke Spanish. She said "badly". Then I asked how well she spoke English and she said "very well".

I have the feeling your daughter's French is very good, nearly perfect for her age. I wonder how many other children were told they lack vocabulary. I'm surprised your daughter chose to read in French when she reads better in English. Do you think it was just because it was something she couldn't do before? It sounds like you found the right balance to have your daughter read in French, while keeping her and her younger sister from thinking the ML was allowed at home.

Post by Amy on Feb 13, 2019 17:48:57 GMT 9

Don't you get angry, Amy . I guess I don't, not because of being cool-headed, but because I know this teacher means well. She's an excellent teacher and her heart is in the right place. She sees that the rest of the children speak Spanish perfectly and when, next year, they need to write sentences, they'll have no problem with it. She thinks my daughter will struggle with it, which is a very real possibility.

I think over time your daughter will do fine. The problem is that our society and the educational institution in particular have set standards, lists of criteria in which everyone must fit. And our kids don't fit exactly, which means they can't be "ticked off" as standard at this stage. If given time, bilingual kids grow to be like monolingual ones. Some studies reckon that by age 6 they catch up with their monolingual peers.

My daughter's teacher also mentioned that my daughter always brings up how well she speaks English when meeting any new teacher. I thought it could be due to her feeling her Spanish isn't good enough. Yesterday, I asked my daughter how well she spoke Spanish. She said "badly". Then I asked how well she spoke English and she said "very well".

I think our children's language perception is influenced by their affection for it. You have always spoken to your daughter in ml, that is probably why she feels more confident in it. Whilst for my daughter, she feels more confident in ML because she always rejected it.

I have the feeling your daughter's French is very good, nearly perfect for her age. I wonder how many other children were told they lack vocabulary. I'm surprised your daughter chose to read in French when she reads better in English. Do you think it was just because it was something she couldn't do before? It sounds like you found the right balance to have your daughter read in French, while keeping her and her younger sister from thinking the ML was allowed at home.

Her ML has caught up with monolingual kids though it was always stronger than her mls since we made the initial strategic mistake of including the ML in our home until she turned 4. She does make some mistakes in ML though I can't for sure put it down to her being trilingual or simply being 6.

Yes, her reading in ML is definitely because so far it was forbidden. And remember she recently asked me if we could start speaking ML at home again. Strong strong tie to the ML. I can feel how she likes it because she feels more comfortable using it. When I listen to her speak in ml2 on the way home from school, I can almost see how her brain transposes from ML to ml2. I can hear her ML accent at certain times.

Yesterday the little one picked up one of the ML books and "read" it in ML. I whispered to my eldest, and told her to see why I didn't want her to read in ML in front of her sibling. So far this week, we managed to keep the reading at her desk with her sister in the living room.

Amy

***"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars" - Oscar Wilde***

Post by Raquel on Feb 13, 2019 18:31:45 GMT 9

Amy , I seriously doubt my daughter will have caught up with children her age in less than half a year (when she's 6). But I know she will, eventually. I guess it'll take longer for her, because she only spoke English until age 3, so she has those 3 years to make up for in the ML. For the time being, my husband has started to read to her in Spanish.

I wouldn't worry about your little one pretending to read in the ML. Sure, they'll do anything they see their older siblings do. But my son also says the odd thing in the ML from time to time. He'll say that his cousin said it, or he may repeat something he heard at school, or something he overheard me say talking on the phone... But we always ignore it or ask him what it means. If it's something I said, I tell him "Oh, this means...[translation into the ml]".

As per your eldest, I thought maybe she wanted to speak in the ML because it's forbidden--and what child doesn't want to do something they're not allowed to? But if her command of the ML is better than that of the mls (which is no wonder with 2 mls!! I think you guys are doing great!!), I can see why she'd want to speak it at home too. I'm sorry it's so frustrating for you, but you know she'll thank you for it when she's older and can understand.

I think the reason why my daughter feels she's good at English but not Spanish is because she compares herself to her friends at school. They all speak better Spanish than she does, so she must be bad at it. But she's way better at English than any of them, so she must be great at it.

By the way, Tatyana L , thanks for your book recommendations. I bought one of the Princess in Black books and my daughter is really enjoying it. She asked, yesterday, why she dresses up as the Princess in Black instead of just going as herself. I guess she doesn't know enough about superheroes yet. It's a cute concept: princess and superheroine.

Post by Mayken on Feb 13, 2019 21:09:18 GMT 9

Amy, my daughter is 8.5 and still makes the occasional mistake in the ML. (Just the other day we caught her blooper "vous disez".) So I'm fairly sure at least some of your daughter's ML mistakes come from being 6.

Post by Raquel on Feb 13, 2019 22:45:59 GMT 9

That makes me feel better, Mayken ! About both ML and ml. Irregular verbs are such a nightmare!! My daughter's new invention is "hadded" (for "had"). I guess "had" wasn't past tense enough for her without the "ed", so she adds it. It's something I'm correcting daily. I always think my daughter's classmate speak perfect Spanish, but I guess they must still make small mistakes at this age.

Post by Mayken on Feb 14, 2019 1:43:52 GMT 9

I'd like to have an occasion to listen to my daughter's monolingual ML classmates for a bit, just to hear if/what mistakes they make. But that's easier said than done in our situation - we must be the family who lives farthest from the school, and any play dates have to be arranged weeks in advance.

Post by Tatyana L on Feb 14, 2019 3:03:37 GMT 9

I think 6 months is plenty to catch up when you are 5 years old. As the educational environment changes and she comes in contact with monolinguals more often, she’ll catch up, and surpass ml.

My baby entered schooling (at 5) ml dominant. 6 months in she was telling me she didn’t remember how things in ml were called. She’s 6 now and you couldn’t tell her apart from monolinguals while the ml troubles are well documented on my progress thread.

I also agree that monolinguals make a lot of mistakes as well at that age. This is specially true for grammatical exceptions to the rules such as “I catched” instead of “I caught” or “I runned” instead of “I ran”. Honestly it’s only at about 8-9 years that I noticed this hypercorrection goes away.

Post by Raquel on Feb 14, 2019 21:25:02 GMT 9

I didn't realize it took that long, Tatyana L ! I've heard "catched" at home too.

I get where you're coming from, Tatyana L , but my daughter has been in school since she was 1. She only started speaking Spanish at age 3, when she wanted to play with other children. She was a passive bilingual, so she's been catching up since then. Fast-forward 2.5 years, and she's still behind. She's improved a lot: she went from speaking zero Spanish to speaking the language and she no longer has an ml accent. But there's still room for improvement. 6 months seem like very little time compared to these past 2.5 years. I still hope you're right, Tatyana! It would be wonderful if her Spanish got to that point where she speaks as well as her classmates. I know she'll get there, I just don't know when.

Post by Raquel on Feb 18, 2019 22:46:34 GMT 9

Both my children spent 40+ hours in English this week. My daughter read in English 6 times this week and.... we finally finished The Reading Lesson!!! So, from now on, it's just reading book after book.

I got 6 more level 4 Biff, Chip and Kipper books. I also want to get some American books too, so that she gets used to both. I got an "I can read" book for my son, looking for Dinosaur books. I didn't even know it was a book for first readers!! So I'll be looking for more of these.

I'm a little worried this week with my daughter's Spanish. It isn't just what my daughter's teacher said; my daughter also mentioned that her classmates treat her as a baby (because she doesn't speak Spanish at their level). A friend of hers stayed overnight on Friday and I could hear my daughter speak Spanish with this very talkative, well-spoken friend of hers and see the big difference!! My daughter's English is much better than her Spanish. I can see why she loves playing with children and attending camps in the UK. What I don't understand is why there's a difference in how well she speaks each language. She spends at least 40h/week in Spanish and has been schooled, full-time, since she was 1. I think my son has had even more exposure to English than my daughter and his Spanish is good for his age.

This morning, I spoke with my SIL again. I was thinking about taking my daughter to a speech-therapist, something I've thought of for a long time, but I never end up doing. My SIL majored in speech-therapy, but works as a teacher (she has a double major). She insists there's nothing wrong with her, that we've put a lot of emphasis in English and she needs to catch up now; that she just needs time.

I never thought I would have to worry about the ML, but she's 5, going on 6, and we're still playing catch-up. My rational mind tells me there's no way a Spanish child won't learn Spanish living in Spain, going to a Spanish school and having Spanish-speaking family. But I guess my patience is wearing thin.

I've begun playing a new game with her, to help with articles. I say a noun, and she has to tell me whether it's "el" or "la". Ex: "Puente" - "le", "fuente" - "la". She gets most right, but she still gets some wrong.

Post by Tatyana L on Feb 19, 2019 0:51:38 GMT 9

I’m sorry to hear your daughter is suffering socially because of language. I always wondered if the choices we made for our children will affect the way they connect to their peers. That’s why I sent my kids to a bilingual school so they’re not the only weird ones. But now I fret that by sending them outside of the neighborhood school they won’t have as many close connections to their classmates because of the physical distance. Sometimes parenting feels like a no-win situation.

Just remember that ML is a temporary problem. Is there a way that you can increase exposure through other people? For example, my oldest has a cooking club where one of her friends invites over 5 or 6 girls and they “cook” while mostly playing and chatting away. I find these get-togethers outside of school to be full of high-quality interaction because it’s not squeezed into 10-minute increments on the playground between classes. Plus hosting something may raise her social status in the eyes of her peers.

Post by Raquel on Feb 19, 2019 19:27:58 GMT 9

Thanks, Tatyana L . My daughter goes to after-school classes in the ML every single school day, because she chooses to. I do remember that a friend of hers once made fun of the way she talked, but it was a one-time thing. My daughter didn't seem very affected by it at the time. I always see her friends and classmates excited to see her. I suspect my daughter notices that her Spanish isn't as good and sees that she's sometimes treated as if she were smaller because of the way she speaks. She's a very sensitive child, so this would make sense.

Just yesterday, a boy from her class saw her in the playground and came running to her. They played together until he had to leave. I think it's more the way she feels than the way other children treat her. Because children have to learn English at school they see speaking English as something desirable. Her friends sometimes ask her -and me- how to say this or that word in English. The friend who stayed with us on Friday was okay with watching a movie in English (we have none in Spanish) because "she would learn English that way". This makes my daughter feel proud about her speaking a second language.

I'm more concerned about how my daughter will be treated when she's older, if things don't change, or the way it'll affect her at school. What I don't get is why it's taking her this long to catch up when many of you report that your children were speaking the ML perfectly after a few months living in a new country.

I think this is one of those times when we have to adapt our strategy: reading in Spanish to her daily, work on masculine and feminine nouns... But I do understand this can only be temporary. I just wish it didn't take this long.

Post by Marta on Feb 19, 2019 21:38:07 GMT 9

Raquel, maybe it is indeed a good idea to go to a speech therapist, looking for one who knows about bilingualism of course. Then you can know for sure if you need to do something or not. I can feel what you say that going to school in the ML I also would have thought she would have caught up already. On the other hand you can be proud of the work you and your husband are doing with her bilingualism, since her English is so strong.

I think it's hard to find the balance with ML and ml, especially as they grow up and school in the ML starts being more challenging.

We can try to meet next time we go to Madrid. And then if you are ever interested in buying the TonieBox just let me know.

These days I've been playing another cooperative game with my 3 & 6 year old that we hadn't played for a while, and I thought of you. It's based on the tale of the Three Little Pigs and it's called Woolfy (from Djeco).

Post by Alba on Feb 20, 2019 5:51:43 GMT 9

Hi Raquel,

I have been following your recent posts and I feel like I don't have much advice to give since I am quite new at the bilingual journey (our little one is not even 2, not talking yet), but I wanted to say "ánimo!" and to send a big hug your way. Everyone can see how hard you are working for your children and they will be so grateful to you in the future! Your little girl is amazing, she will catch up no doubt, and when she does she will not only be bilingual but also a very brave and strong girl. Not only languages are taught this way I realise, but a whole philosophy of bettering yourself, overcoming challenges, accepting being different and being proud of what you are.

I read you and feel inspired by your every post, I mean it, so all the very best and ánimo!! xxx

Post by Adam Beck on Feb 20, 2019 16:46:54 GMT 9

I'm a little worried this week with my daughter's Spanish. It isn't just what my daughter's teacher said; my daughter also mentioned that her classmates treat her as a baby (because she doesn't speak Spanish at their level). A friend of hers stayed overnight on Friday and I could hear my daughter speak Spanish with this very talkative, well-spoken friend of hers and see the big difference!! My daughter's English is much better than her Spanish. I can see why she loves playing with children and attending camps in the UK. What I don't understand is why there's a difference in how well she speaks each language. She spends at least 40h/week in Spanish and has been schooled, full-time, since she was 1. I think my son has had even more exposure to English than my daughter and his Spanish is good for his age.

Raquel, your concern is natural, yet my long-distance take on the situation is that your daughter's Spanish will continue to grow stronger at a steady pace and that she will indeed catch up to her peers soon. How "soon" that is, it's naturally hard to say, since every child and their circumstances are different. But I do expect that, looking at the longer path of your daughter's bilingual development, this "slower start" to her Spanish ability will ultimately become a minor footnote in her growth as a bilingual child.

That said, if you feel that she could benefit from greater exposure to Spanish at this point, to strengthen the pace of her development in this language, why don't you continue exploring some options? In particular, perhaps an older Spanish-speaking playmate--like a high school or college girl--would enable her to engage in this language more actively, more intensively, on a regular basis. (It may be that she just hasn't had as much opportunity to speak in Spanish during her first five years--even though she's been going to school--as she's had in English.)

Considering the fact that her English is progressing well, I think it's unlikely that there's some other language-related issue apart from shortcomings in exposure and engagement. Again, for the most part, I think time is on your side, in terms of resolving this temporary concern, but fortifying exposure and engagement in the majority language--without undercutting the same in the minority language--could also nudge nature along.

Adam Beck is the founder of Bilingual Monkeys and The Bilingual Zoo, and the author of the popular book Maximize Your Child's Bilingual Ability amzn.to/22XKuCt and the humorous novel How I Lost My Ear amzn.to/2EsjVRS, both available worldwide. Please support The Bilingual Zoo through Adam's Patreon page www.patreon.com/bilingualmonkeys.

Post by Raquel on Feb 20, 2019 18:58:44 GMT 9

Thanks to all for your input. I got the contact for a bilingual speech-therapist, and I plan on contacting them later today. I'm with you, Marta . They're expensive, but if there's a problem, we need to know, and if there isn't, then at least I'll have peace of mind.

Just for the record, this is all completely unrelated to bilingualism. If there is a problem with my daughter's speech, she would have had it regardless of what language we speak to her. If there isn't one, then it's just a matter of time before she catches up, and what matters isn't what she can do at age 5 (when she can communicate with both Spanish and English speakers), but what she can do in life (speak 2 languages well, hopefully! among many other things).

My SIL told me she's sure there isn't an issue with my daughter, because they're very obvious, but because she doesn't speak English and can't tell how well my daughter speaks, that she doesn't want to be wrong, and if we want to contact a speech-therapist, to go ahead and do just that. She told me my daughter speaks at a level of a 4yo. She's 5, so it isn't that bad. I was focusing on the sounds or words my daughter mispronounces, but my SIL said the problem was more that her sentence construction is simple.

Everyone says that "if her English is good", like you, Adam Beck , but I can't really tell, because I have no one to compare her to. She speaks as well as, or better than, the children from the English-speaking families we know in Madrid, who are usually doing OPOL. But those kids speak Spanish just fine. She doesn't speak as well as an English monolingual kid. Neither do I. I'm still working with her on describing things that really happened. Like today: she told me that when they had gym class yesterday, and I'm paraphrasing here "we had a boat, and with the ball... it was money, treasure. There were other pirates. There were bench(es). The floor blue (blue floor - I could tell she was translating in her mind here) was water. The boat was blue too. We had to sit on a bench and get the ball like this (she showed me), with our feet. We pass(ed) it to the next (child). I was the first one. The teacher gave it to me." There are times when I'm amazed at how well she says some things, and times, like this morning, when she's struggling to explain something and making lots of mistakes.

I'm glad my posts help, Alba ! When they're little and they're just starting to speak, you don't know what to expect, and I remember reading about older children too, to know what to expect. I love the way you described bilingualism, not just being about (an) extra language(s).

On a completely unrelated note, we got Labyrinth as a present for my daughter's finishing her reading lesson. We've only played once, and the game was a little difficult for her, but, lately, she's been playing with games that seemed too hard for her in the beginning, and then getting the hang of them after playing with them a bit, so we'll keep on playing and see what happens.

This week my kids have been spending time with their 3yo cousin, with whom they speak Spanish, and this weekend they'll be with my parents, so it'll be a week with more ML than the usual, but this time, I'm okay with that.

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Amy: Cute code switching this morning when my 3 year old told me "I get my pótamo" (she meant her hippo soft toy). This mixing was music to my ears... It means she is truly growing trilingual. Apr 6, 2019 2:51:35 GMT 9*

Adam Beck: Lovely, Amy! Good for you, and good for her! P.S. I like hippos.Apr 7, 2019 10:32:37 GMT 9

Alba: So funny, Amy! Great to hear I love the word Hypo, every child says it different! My son did something similar when he say "This tocotó", he calls horses "tocotó" based on the noise they made when trotting (tocotó, iiii (neigh)-ok, for a Spanish ear) Apr 8, 2019 6:52:09 GMT 9

Amy: Cheer Alba and Adam Beck! . I love these "baby" words. They are so cute. I like the "This tocotó" another example of state of the art Spanglish <3Apr 9, 2019 4:54:05 GMT 9

Mayken: Got home from a short trip to Zürich - heard German, French & Italian on the train, and both German and French in the tram. And everyone speaks English too. It was nice to be able to choose which of my languages I wanted to speak!May 6, 2019 23:07:42 GMT 9

Mayken: It is, Amy . I didn't realise how much I had missed it.May 7, 2019 23:10:43 GMT 9

Amy: Last year, a new colleague joined my team. She's trilingual in the same languages as me. It was like magic. We change languages and even code-switch several time a day. I had missed that so much!! My monolingual colleagues must think we're freaks! lolMay 8, 2019 4:56:12 GMT 9

Amy: Unfortunately, she has resigned and is leaving shortly. I was so proud to introduce her to my eldest, one day that I had brought her to show her round my office. And to introduce other bi/multilingual colleagues. Show how important languages are.May 8, 2019 4:58:26 GMT 9

Mayken: That must have been wonderful, Amy! I'm sorry she is leaving. I would love to find someone like that. We had an English intern last year who spoke German and French. We chatted a lot.May 8, 2019 6:06:01 GMT 9

Caro C.: Oh Amy I sort of feel related to what you are saying. Some months ago I made a friend from the US. She happens to be a neighbor with four kids. We’ve been sharing back and forth and I’d love my baby girl to eventually be able to share with her childrenMay 13, 2019 12:55:09 GMT 9

Caro C.: Although maybe they will be a bit old for her, still we (I mean their mom = Sarah and me) both are very happy and grateful for each other as friends.May 13, 2019 12:57:05 GMT 9*

Mayken: As of yesterday, I am aunt to a baby girl who lives in our ml country with 2 ml parents, and I'm already planning to get them a nice nursery rhymes CD for our first visit. May 16, 2019 20:03:47 GMT 9*

Caro C.: OMG I just came across this song and it filled my heart with joy and excitement...perfect for all of us who are parents: youtu.be/g1fcnhB8GOYMay 19, 2019 14:01:55 GMT 9*

Adam Beck: Caro, thanks for sharing that lovely song. Raffi was one of our very favorite musicians when my kids were small. We listened to him all the time. I highly recommend his albums as a source of very enjoyable and very effective English input. May 20, 2019 15:32:26 GMT 9

Mayken: My daughter is on a field trip this week and I feel like I've lost my main purpose May 20, 2019 20:03:33 GMT 9*